What is the ultimate goal of A Course in Miracles ? A: Jesus tells us in the Course that the Holy Spirit is the Christ Mind which is aware of the knowledge that lies beyond perception (T.5.I.5: 1) and is in your right mind, as He was in mine (T.5.I.3). In other words, the Holy Spirit is the memory of Gods Love that remained in our mind when we fell asleep and dreamt up this world of separation. We can think of Him as an internal Teacher to whom we can turn for guidance. He will correct our painful thoughts of separation with forgiving thoughts, which reflect the truth that we are still home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality (T.10.I.2: 1) . Of specifics, the Course says, The Holy Spirit will answer every specific problem as long as you believe that problems are specific (T.11.VIII.5: 5). Then it goes on to tell us that Problems are not specific but they take specific forms, and these specific shapes make up the world (T. 27.V.8: 1). So, the Course lets us know that there is a loving presence to which we can turn for help with the specific challenges we seem to face in our lives. At the same time, it sets out a curriculum that will lead us to realize that the multitude of specific problems we think we have are just reflections of our one real problem -- our belief that we exist at Gods expense and deserve to be punished for it. Jesus wants us to use the specific problems in our lives as classrooms that will ultimately help us to awaken. The first step in this process is to bring our problems to the light of the Holy Spirit in our mind so He can reinterpret them for us in a loving way. This will not necessarily change a problem on the level of form, but it will take away all our pain and conflict about it. Over time, all our specifics will begin to seem more and more alike and we will automatically stop asking the Holy Spirit for help with our specific problems and instead ask Him to help us (to paraphrase the Course) change our mind about our problems. This brings us to the Courses ultimate goal. The rather ambitious goal of the Course is to teach us that this world is nothing more than an outside picture of an inward condition (T.21.in.1: 5) , that this condition is making us miserable, and that -- with the Holy Spirits help -- we have the ability to change it. The Course would have changing this inward condition become the central focus of our lives. We could think of studying this Course as taking the initial step on a lifelong journey of forgiveness and ever-increasing self-awareness. As Course students, it is important to remember that This course is a beginning, not an end (W.ep.1: 1) . The end of the journey -- the real world -- will be when we, like Jesus, have nothing but the Holy Spirit in our mind. Happily, when that happens and what it looks like is not our concern.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 07:07:03 +0000
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